As an artist and educator, my work is largely about bridging disciplines, engaging people, and using art to create instances of awareness. More specifically, in an ecological sense I am interested in questioning our human relationship to nature. I have explored this interest in many different ways including public art and robotic sculptures.

My most recent outdoor commission is called Solar Labyrinth, and is a solar powered sculpture in the form of a small spiral which is illuminated from within at night to display 14 different drawings of domestic animals enveloped in a regular sine wave pattern. Solar Labyrinth was commissioned by Dr. Allan Berger of Bright Eyes and Bushy Tails Veterinary Hospital in Iowa City, IA. The project was an outgrowth of a 40kW solar installation on the roof of the building. The goal of the project was to design a creative solar sculpture that would add to the visual presence of solar power at the site while also creative an exciting work of public art. The ancient Greek myth of the Minotaur became a focus of discussion and the Labyrinth form was the resulting physical embodiment of this ancient story. Each of the 14 panels on the interior of the structure have a different animal surrounded by a sine wave pattern to reference the path of the sun. A Minotaur sculpture will eventually be added to the center of the labyrinth to complete the project.

As computers and artificial intelligence proliferate and become woven into all aspects of our human existence, the desire to protect the environment and promote healthy ecologies must also grow. In addition to engaging the public and creating greater awareness about these interests, I see my sculptures as a way of visualizing unseen forces and re-imagining nature.